Today’s post is all about my November gnome… Gnoodles the First!

Gnoodles the First‘s favourite food is spaghetti (she’s not picky about the sauce), but, because she’s so small, she only needs a single spaghetto to fill her up! When she’s not eating pasta, she spends her time working on her potion-brewing and spell-casting skills. She’s hoping that the Guild of Grimblewood Witches will finally accept her application to join if she wows them with her witchy prowess: she already has the perfect hat, right?

Table of Contents

• Choosing November’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing November’s Gnome

Throughout this series, I’ve been slowly but surely working my way through Sarah Schira’s book, The Gnomes of Grimblewood. The book contains 8 individual gnome patterns (plus the ability to mix & match different elements to make your own gnome designs) and, before this month, I’d made 7 of them. There’s another mystery gnome on the horizon for December, so I figured November would be the perfect month to get in the last gnome: Gnoodles!

Gnoodles is also known as ‘Gnoodles the Smallest Gnome’ and boy does she live up to that epithet! She’s a pretty tiny, super quick knit— I whipped her up in 2 days of (very gentle) knitting.

The Yarn

I dipped back into the ol’ yarn scrap stash for Gnoodles and picked out some autumnal shades, because, you know, it’s my last chance!

I chose a dark purple for the hat, a copper-y colour for the body (the same shade I used for Gnorri‘s hat wayyyyyy back in January) and a cream shade for the beard, nose and hands. The dark purple yarn was a little finer than the other two, so I did have a little trouble with the white stuffing showing through, but I just stuffed it lightly, gave it a bit of a squish and it was barely noticeable!

Thoughts on the Pattern

Gnoodles is definitely the simplest pattern of all of the gnomes in the book: she’s made up of a simple, cone-shaped hat (similar to, though obviously significantly smaller than, that of Gnorri (left) and Gnectar (right)), a plain, slightly rounded body, a loopy beard and some tiny i-cord arms. There aren’t any super complicated techniques, colourwork or shaping and, because she’s so small, she works up super quickly!

Gnoodles was exactly what I needed this month (given the fact that the festive season is fast approaching!): a quick, simple knit that didn’t require any faff or inner turmoil: just some good old fashioned gnome-ing.

Changes/Adaptations

Seeing as this was my first time making Gnoodles, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern. In general, I prefer to make the gnomes as intended for my first go and then tell myself I’ll make some adaptations the next time around (even if the next time around is still… very far in the future).

Things I Loved!

There’s so much to love about Gnoodles!

• Her tininess.

Gnoodles is small. ‘Small’ here means the following: a) quick to knit, b) less of a drain on the wool-y resources and c) CUTER than CUTE. I mean, look at her tiny little hat! Her tiny little arms! Her tiny little nose!

• The colour scheme.

I love an autumnal colour scheme and I think this one is so cosy and perfect! It reminds me of hedgehogs and blackberries and witchy, Halloween-y vibes.

• The loopy beard.

The first thing I love about this beard: you don’t have to block it (in fact, you actually can’t block it, or else you’ll end up with a curly beard). The second thing I love about this beard: the fact that it looks like spaghetti (which I’m guessing is what inspired Gnoodles‘s name?). I too love spaghetti, so this feels very fitting.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

There was only one major problem that I ran into with Gnoodles…

• Stuffing Gnoodles (particularly with the weighted stuffing).

Gnoodles is very small (have I mentioned that?) and while that made stuffing her with the fluffy stuffing a little challenging, it made stuffing her with the weighted pellets an absolute ordeal. I’m seriously considering buying myself a funnel for future gnomes because this process? It was painful. Pellets, everywhere! Gnoodles, unstuffed! Me, losing the will to live! If I made Gnoodles again, I would a) use the aforementioned, currently non-existent funnel and b) consider adding the weighted stuffing before Round 37 (as opposed to after), to give myself a little more room to play with.

Final Thoughts

I love Gnoodles. I love her for her tininess, her colour scheme and the fact that, after leaving my recent gnomes right to the wire, I worked her up early on in the month, super quickly and easily and, as a result, saved myself a whole load of stress.

It also makes me feel very at peace that I have now made (at least) one of each of the 8 gnome patterns in The Gnomes of Grimblewood: I feel like I have a solid gnome base now and I can start having even more fun with them!

There’s one post left in this series: I’ll be participating in the December MKAL (mystery knitalong), ‘Gnandad’s Grand Adventure‘ for my December gnome! The December MKALs are daily affairs, so it’ll be a whole new experience for me! I can’t wait to see how Gnandad ends up! Because this is an MKAL, I won’t be able to post about it until January, so keep an eye out for it then.

Fear not, though, because I have another festive gnome up my sleeve that I will be sharing in December, just to bring some gnome-y joy to your festive season. Stay tuned!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnoodles on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnectar the First here.

Gemma

xxx

My August gnome is coming to you a little late (I mean, it is October tomorrow…), but I promise that I did actually knit this one in August! I’m just only getting around to sharing her here now, but she’s been on my Ravelry page for a while now.

Introducing… Gnectar the First!

Gnectar the First’s favourite time of year is when the blackberries are ripe. She likes to go out foraging, stuffing her pocket full of the berries (although this has led to it being tinted a rather deep shade of pink!). She’ll try any blackberry recipe she can get her hands on: jams, jellies, cakes, muffins, crumbles, crisps— you name it! Outside of blackberry season, Gnectar busies herself with perfecting her sticky gingerbread recipe: she’s determined to finally win the award for Best in Loaf at the Grimblewood Fair one day!

Table of Contents

• Choosing August’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing August’s Gnome

Throughout my gnome-making adventures this year, I’ve nearly managed to knit my way through the whole of The Gnomes of Grimblewood— at the start of August, there were just two gnomes I had yet to make: Gnectar the Marbled Gnome and Gnoodles the Smallest Gnome. I’m aiming to knit all of the gnomes from the book at least once by the end of the year, so I decided to tackle one of them for August!

I chose Gnectar (mainly because I figured Gnoodles would be a super quick knit, so I decided to do future Gemma a favour and save him for a busier month!).

The Yarn

Another gnome, another instance of me going off-piste and spontaneously making ill-advised colour choices… I just can’t help it! On the plus side, I’m back to using up scraps of fingering weight yarn with Gnectar (which has been my aim throughout this series— I’ve done it for all but one of my gnomes!).

I was mostly considering the hat when I made my choices, so I picked 3 shades of pink, along with a gingerbread colour to marl with them, to give my Gnectar a vaguely autumnal, pinkish candy corn vibe! I love this in theory, and it does look good close up, but I feel like the lightest and medium pink shades look a little too similar from afar, so I didn’t quite get the defined stripes that I was looking for.

I had initially planned to marl the gingerbread colour with a white yarn for the body, but I suddenly panicked that the white beard/nose/hands would disappear into the body if I did that, so, at the last minute, I decided to use the palest pink colour instead. I definitely feel like I should have followed the pattern suggestion (shocker!) and used a completely different contrast colour in the body, because I think my Gnectar looks a little… same-y? She’s lovely, but I just think she could use a little more definition! A little more contrast! A little more pizazz!

Thoughts on the Pattern

I really enjoyed coming back to a book gnome pattern after a few months of knitalong style patterns: I find that they are a lot clearer and easy to follow, which makes the gnome-making process even more enjoyable for me!

Gnectar is worked with the yarn held double for everything except the beard, which is knitted with a single strand of yarn. This allows you to achieve that marled effect, but it also makes the fabric much firmer (even though you work on larger needles, to compensate for this!). The firmer fabric definitely makes the stuffing process easier, as each of the pieces are more inclined to hold their intended shape. However, I don’t love knitting with the yarn held double: I always seem to drop loops here and there and I do find it quite hard on my fingers! The pattern does mention that a ‘not-so-hidden’ ninth gnome can be made by knitting Gnectar with a single strand of yarn, so I’m tempted to try that instead next time!

Because of the yarn-held-double situation, and the general roundedness of Gnectar‘s body, she is quite a large gnome. She’s just slightly shorted than Gnolan (but quite a bit stouter!). In terms of circumference (so sorry, Gnectar), she’s more comparable to Gnatalia.

Changes/Adaptations

Aside from my aforementioned, ill-advised colour choices, I didn’t make any (intentional) changes to my gnome. This was my first time making Gnectar, so I wanted to make her according to the pattern!

However, I definitely did (completely accidentally) make one of the i-cord toppers on Gnectar‘s hat longer than the others, which I guess is a change, but was not intentional and honestly bugs me A LOT, so I will definitely be making a conscious effort not to do that again the next time I make a Gnectar!

Things I Loved!

There’s always so much to love about Schira’s gnomes, but here are my favourite things about Gnectar:

• The shape of her hat.

I love the perfect cone shape of Gnectar‘s hat (made even more perfect by the more rigid fabric, which makes the hat super easy to stuff and means it keeps its shape much better!). Gnectar‘s hat is very similar to Gnorri‘s hat (my first ever gnome), but it was much easier to stuff!

• The rolled brim on her hat.

I think this is only my second rolled brim (I believe Gnolan was the first!) and I really do like how they look. In fact, I think it looks even better on Gnectar than on Gnolan (sorry, Gnolan) because the fabric is thicker, so it’s a little more defined!

• The colour combo of the hot pink and the gingerbread.

I may have had some issues with my colour choices, but I think the hot pink shade, marled with the gingerbread shade, looks really great! I think it also helps to add a bit of spice to Gnectar, who, otherwise, it’s true— does look a little same-y!

• The contrast of the beard/nose against the body.

I really love how stark the beard/nose look against the marled body: there’s a lot of marbling going on with Gnectar and, while that’s definitely her thing, it’s nice to see a large block of solid colour as well.

• The size of her nose.

The yarn is held double for the nose as well, which makes it extra big and perfectly round. Because Gnectar‘s a pretty big gnome, I think the big nose looks really good on her!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Naturally though, there are a few parts of Gnectar that I didn’t enjoy quite so much, or just think I could do better next time:

• The colour choices.

I’ve talked about this in depth, so you don’t need to hear it again: I went crazy with my colour choices and I don’t think they quite worked out. Love some of them, love the idea, but don’t love the final result!

• The i-cord hat toppers.

I was so excited for these, because I think they look so good on the sample Gnectars in the book, but I think I just didn’t execute them very well because mine don’t look… right? I think I made them a bit too long, so they’re a little sad and floppy (not to mention uneven, but that was definitely my mistake). I don’t know, I just had such high hopes for these and I’m a bit disappointed in them! I will definitely give them another go though, because I do think they make Gnectar extra special.

• The single pocket.

I think this might be a result of my colour choices, but the single pocket just… isn’t working for me here? The pockets look so good on the sample Gnectars (which makes me think it definitely is my colour choices), but I think my pocket gets a bit lost on the body and just feels quite small in comparison to the very large gnome?

• Sewing in the ends.

Yet another reason to dislike knitting with the yarn held double: twice. as. many. ends. That’s it.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest here, Gnectar isn’t my favourite of the gnomes I’ve made so far for the Year of Gnomes, but I take full responsibility for that, because I’m 99% sure it’s because of my colour choices! I took a risk and it didn’t quite pay off. However! I think there’s definitely potential there: I love the hot pink/gingerbread combo, so maybe if I replaced the pale pink shade with a cream (?) on the hat, to get a proper ombré effect, then used a different contrast colour for the body, I could get my vision to work?

I’d love to make a recreation of the red sample from the book, because I think those colours look great together and really bring out the best in the pattern. Also, I’d love to get the topper right, because it just has so much potential!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnectar on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnectar the First here.

Gemma

xxx

As part of the Year of Gnomes Knitalong fun, there’s an optional schedule that includes mystery gnomes (like my April gnome) and guided knitalongs. May happened to fall into the latter category, so I decided to take part in the guided knitalong for Gnoddy (a gnome from Schira’s Gnomes of Grimblewood book, from which I’ve been working most of my gnomes up!) this month.

Anyway, enough chitchat: it’s time to introduce…

Gnoddy the First!

Gnoddy the First loves a good musical: her favourite is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and her favourite number from the show is ‘Those Canaan Days’, because she loves a good tango. She also has a soft spot for a chocolate-y interval snack (usually some Maltesers, but her truest chocolate love is a Toble-gnome).

Table of Contents

• My First Guided Knitalong
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

My First Guided Knitalong

The Gnoddy guided knitalong included weekly Zoom meetings, a flexible schedule and a plethora of helpful YouTube videos to help participants through the process of making Gnoddy.

Admittedly, I did not follow the schedule or attend the Zoom meetings, but I did watch the YouTube videos and found them incredibly helpful, so I still kind of participated!

The Yarn

For some reason, I just couldn’t get super excited over the Gnoddy pattern: some of the gnomes from the Gnomes of Grimblewood book really stood out to me, but Gnoddy just… didn’t?

Because of this, I decided to go a little crazy with my colour choices and make a super fun and colourful Gnoddy, to bring a bit more joy to my project. As with all of my Year of Gnomes projects so far, I used scraps of leftover fingering weight yarn for Gnoddy, so I can only give you a rough description of the colours (bar one of them, which I do actually know for sure):

• Dark, raspberry pink (ear flaps/brim, bobble and lower body).
• Speckled cream (nose, beard and hands).
• Multicoloured self-striping: pinks, purples, yellows and teals (jumper).
• DROPS Fabel in the shade Confetti Cake (924) (hat).

These colours were a huge departure from the more muted, autumnal colour palette of my other gnomes and, honestly they were a little outside of my comfort zone! However, I absolutely LOVE how Gnoddy the First turned out! I think going crazy with the colours really helped me enjoy the process and endeared me much more to the final Gnoddy product. Maybe next time, I’ll make a Gnoddy in a more classic colour palette, now that I know I will enjoy the process?

Thoughts on the Pattern

I think I knew that Gnoddy was going to be a little bit more fiddly than some of the other gnomes, which might be what put me off making her initially. I’m so glad that the guided knitalong came along though, because it did encourage me to give her a go anyway.

Gnoddy‘s two main features are her ear-flapped bobble hat and her jumper, which is knitted right into her body (sorry if you get too hot in the summer, Gnoddy, you’re stuck like this). The hat was easy, but did involve a few extra steps to make the ear flaps/bobble. The jumper was slightly more complicated, but still fairly straightforward (and, as with all of Schira’s patterns, was super well-explained!), but quite fiddly— just as a result of the tiny stitch counts and such.

The same pattern is used for the hands and the bobble of the hat, which I thought was very clever and helped to make Gnoddy a slightly simpler pattern. Gnoddy’s also a relatively small gnome, so once the more complex elements were completed, she actually worked up pretty quickly.

Changes/Adaptations

As this was my first Gnoddy, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern. I wanted to keep it simple this time and get used to the new techniques.

One thing I did do, which was more of a change to my own conventions, rather than anything to do with the pattern, was that I used spare yarn, rather than my beloved Barber Cords, to hold the stitches for the arms while I worked up the body of the sweater. I did start using the Barber Cords, but they were just too bulky for this small project, so it was easier to use a small piece of yarn that I could tuck away inside the body while I worked. I’ve never actually done this before, but it worked very well and it was only a little bit fiddly to pick them back up from the yarn before working the sleeves.

Things I Loved!

There are so many things I love about Gnoddy the First (despite my initial misgivings):

• The colours

Picking such bright, busy colours was a big step outside of my comfort zone and… I think it really paid off! My Gnoddy is so cheery and happy, she just brings me so much joy!

• The fact that I didn’t have to block the beard

To keep the beard straight (and not curly, like with Gnicole), you don’t block it before unravelling the rows. Blocking always feels like a very tiresome (though, I admit, necessary) step, so I was thrilled to discover that I actually wasn’t allowed to block this beard!

• Gnoddy‘s little jumper

Was this jumper fiddly to make? Yes, absolutely. Is it the cutest thing in the whole wide world? Also yes, absolutely.

• Gnoddy‘s ear flaps

I wasn’t totally sold on the ear flaps: they’re a little… lumberjack-y? for me and they involve a lot of darning in ends neatly to make a nice finished edge. However, I do really think they give Gnoddy loads of personality, and they fit super well with her jumper, so she doesn’t look too… shoulder-y?

• The hands

I admit, I did sigh a little when I realised I had to knit and attach the hands to the sleeves individually, but I actually think the method used for attaching them was so ingenious and foolproof that halfway through the process I forgot about it being tedious and just marvelled yet again at Schira’s creativity and ingenuity.

• Picking up the stitches for the body

Because Gnoddy contains so many different colours, it’s actually really easy to pick up stitches for the body sections, which is something I struggle with sometimes with these gnomes. The colour changes make it super clear where the rows are, so you can stick to a straight line very easily. I also found Schira’s YouTube video on this super informative and helpful, so I’d definitely recommend checking that out if you’re making any of her gnomes— not just Gnoddy!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Having said all that, naturally, there were a couple of parts of the process that weren’t quite so much fun:

• Darning in the aforementioned ear flap ends

I found that the edges of the ear flaps were quite untidy, particularly where the yarn was cut/joined, so I had to use the ends to neaten them up a little before I darned them in. That’s fine, but I really dislike darning in ends and this extra step made the process that little bit more tedious.

• Making the fiddly sleeves

Look, making tiny sleeves like this was never going to be fun, but it was definitely very fiddly. It wasn’t hard, just a bit awkward working with so few stitches (and stuffing them later on!). Luckily, the sleeves are so tiny that they go by very quickly, so it’s just a short term discomfort!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really love Gnoddy the First, which was a big surprise to me, because I wasn’t feeling overly inspired when I set out to make her. As I said, I do think the colour choices made a huge difference for me this time around and I can definitely see myself making some more colourful gnomes in the future.

Even though I didn’t quite participate in the guided knitalong to the extent I could have, I’m still glad I participated to some degree: I don’t know if I would have made Gnoddy any time soon without the encouragement and I’m so glad I did! I found the YouTube videos super helpful: I’ll definitely be checking out more of Schira’s videos in the future to help me with my gnome-making endeavours.

So, that’s the rundown on my May gnome for the Year of Gnomes 2025: a colourful and playful Gnoddy the First. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience making Gnoddy, half-following along with my first ever guided knitalong and harnessing the power of colour to instil a bit of inspiration!

I’ll be back soon with my June gnome. Until then, happy gnome-ing!

Gemma

xxx

My brother and his wife (they got married last weekend!) recently moved into their new house and, as a housewarming present, I offered to make them a set of gnomes! They both picked their favourite gnome from my copy of The Gnomes of Grimblewood and, so, I set about making them their very own versions of Gnicole (the cabled gnome) and Gnatalia (the colourwork gnome).

Gnicole is a self-proclaimed instant noodle connoisseur and maintains that spicier noodles are always better. While the curly, ramen-style noodles are her favourite, she does also enjoy some nice spaghetti. In fact, she always carries a stash of dried spaghetti with her, under her hat, in case of emergencies (hence why her hat is so outrageously tall). Of course, she stole that idea from Paddington, but she doesn’t think he’ll mind: imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.

Gnatalia loves ballroom dancing: she very much enjoys a classic waltz, but her favourite dance is the tango, because she likes the drama. Because she only has feet (no knees), she can’t dance the Argentine tango, which is a source of great sadness to her. Unfortunately, Gnicole is too top-heavy (as a result of her spaghetti-stuffed hat) to be a suitable dance partner, so Gnatalia is in the market for a someone new (her first choice is Anton Du Beke, but she is willing to settle for someone else if necessary).

Table of Contents

• Yarn Choices
• Thoughts on the Patterns/Gnome-Making Process
  • Gnatalia
  • Gnicole
• Changes/Adaptations
• Final Thoughts

Yarn Choices

As with all of the gnomes in my Year of Gnomes undertaking, I made both of these gnomes using leftover fingering weight yarn that I had already had on hand. In general, I tried to stick as closely as possible to the colours in the inspiration photos (both in The Gnomes of Grimblewood book), though, obviously, I did have to make a few changes here and there where I didn’t have exact matches.

Even though the two gnomes are very different from each other, I still wanted them to feel like a set. I opted to use the same colour for both Gnicole‘s hat and one of the accent colours on Gnatalia‘s hat (the brim/horizontal stripe colour). I also gave Gnicole a grey beard (as opposed to a white beard), so that Gnatalia wouldn’t look dirty next to her, with her grey beard and hat. Both gnome designs already had tassels, so I think, along with the colour choices, this version of Gnicole and Gnatalia look like a nice, matching-but-not-too-matchy pair.

Little note here: I’ve never worked with teal yarn before, so I wasn’t expecting this, but MY GOODNESS did my hands look a MESS after knitting Gnicole. The dye on the yarn just seemed determined to get all over me, which did make the experience slightly less enjoyable. Sometimes the dye washed off, sometimes it didn’t, but it definitely turned me off knitting with teal again for the foreseeable future!

Thoughts on the Patterns/Gnome-Making Process

As I’ve mentioned multiple times in my Year of Gnomes series, I absolutely love following Sarah Schira‘s gnome patterns: they’re SO clear and easy to follow and understand, which makes knitting up even the fiddlier parts of the gnomes seem super doable and not at all overwhelming.

This was, however, my first time making both Gnatalia and Gnicole, so I thought I’d share my initial thoughts on those specific patterns here.

Gnatalia

Gnatalia is quite different to the other gnomes I have made: not only does she have the whole folded hat thing going on, she is also a much rounder shape. Furthermore, she has the most complex colourwork I’ve done in a gnome (the only other gnome-based colourwork I’ve tried was Gnolan‘s stripes, which doesn’t really compare at all).

I was dreading the colourwork element of Gnatalia a little bit, but it actually wasn’t too bad! I did end up with a lot of ends to tie off and darn in (though the darning probably wasn’t completely necessary— I could have just left them as stuffing additions), which was sad, but kind of a given with colourwork. My work is pretty neat everywhere except the beginning of the round, where everything gets a little loose and, well, less neat, so that’s definitely something for me to work on next time around.

Weirdly, I was also very nervous about folding over and sewing down the hat, but it was genuinely super simple and easy to do. Yet again, Schira’s instructions make even the overwhelming tasks feel approachable and I am so very grateful for that.

I really enjoyed making the more rounded body shape for Gnatalia, but I did find it a little trickier to stuff than the other gnomes. Gnatalia is quite a stable gnome, so I didn’t find that it was necessary to leave 1/3 of the body for weighted stuffing (I ended up only filling about 1/4 to 1/5 instead).

Gnicole

My first thing to say about Gnicole is that she is MUCH bigger than I expected? I don’t know how, but I was genuinely shocked by the size of her once I’d finished her main body piece. She’s a TALL girl (though, to be honest, it’s mainly hat). Because of her size, there is quite a lot of knitting in her and her hat also features a lot of cables, which adds to the total knitting time too. She wasn’t the most complicated gnome, but she definitely took longer to work up than most of the other gnomes I have made!

This was my first time making a curly beard and I could not, for the life of me, visualise how it was going to work. In the end, I just trusted the process, went for it and got to witness it just, well, happen (I find that’s usually the way with knitting). I love the effect of the curly beard, but I do think the shape of it is a little off— mine just feels a bit wider/more trapezoid-y than ones in the photos? More on that later.

Similarly to Gnatalia, I found stuffing Gnicole quite challenging. The pattern warns you that her hat is super stretchy, so you need to be careful not to over-stuff it. I tried my best, but I still feel she’s a little bit over-stuffed, though this could also be because the brim of the hat is quite tight and pulls Gnicole in where her hat meets her body.

Changes/Adaptations

For Gnicole, I followed the pattern pretty much exactly. The only slight change I made was that I blocked the tassel of the hat, because it was looking pretty limp and sparse when I first made it. Blocking worked wonders though: the tassel looks much thicker and all-round prettier now, so I’ll definitely be carrying that technique forward in my gnome making journey! In fact, I was able to carry it forward almost immediately, because Gnatalia also has a tassel, so it worked out well.

As I mentioned, I’m not 100% happy with Gnicole‘s beard. It’s quite… unruly at the edges— the outer ‘curls’ have a tendency to stick upwards and outwards, which kind of overwhelms Gnicole‘s little body. I folded the outer sections of the beard under the rest of it, then used the arms to hold it in gently in place, and I much prefer it that way. Perhaps next time I’ll try making the beard slightly less wide? But it would still stick out, surely, so I’m not sure…

For Gnatalia, I made two, small changes: firstly, I added feet, which the original pattern does not include, but the worsted weight sample (which I was basing my Gnatalia on) does. The feet are a bit fiddly to make, but they’re so cute and I haven’t made any since Gnorri (my very first gnome!), so I thought it was about time to make some more.

The second change I made was also a result of trying to mimic the style of the worsted weight sample as much as possible: for Chart 2, I used Yarn A in the place of Yarn B (and vice versa). It’s just a little alteration, but I’m pretty sure it’s what’s done in the sample, so I did it too.

I think, if I were making Gnatalia again (maybe even any gnome, given my problems with Gnicole too?), I’d use a stretchier cast-on for the brim of her hat. I’ve been struggling with the brim being too tight on my most recent gnomes and I think a stretchier cast-on would help with that.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m super happy with how Gnicole and Gnatalia turned out and I think they’ll make the perfect Gnomewarming gift for my brother and his wife. I didn’t experiment too much with the colour choices for these two, because I wanted these gnomes to be pretty accurate representations of the ones in the book. Both of these gnomes felt quite different to the gnomes I’ve already made, so it was fun to branch out a little bit and introduce some new techniques to my gnome arsenal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my Gnomewarming project! I’ll be back next month with 2 (!!) more instalments of my Year of Gnomes series (April and May), so stay tuned for that!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnicole the Cabled Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find the pattern for Gnatalia the Colourwork Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnomewarming here. 

Gemma

xxx

Gnarley the First!

Gnarley the First is a renowned interior designer, best known for her cutting-edge work with throw pillows and cushions. She’s not a big talker, but no other gnome can furnish a tree the way she can. She tries to cultivate a mysterious persona, in order to establish herself as a true ‘artiste’, but her creative idol is Edna Mode and her favourite song is ‘Raspberry Beret’, so make of that what you will...

Table of Contents

• Choosing March’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing March’s Gnome

After two relatively… pointy gnomes, I was craving a bit of a shape change for this month’s gnome. Gnarley is the only square-hatted gnome in The Gnomes of Grimblewood (the book by Sarah Schira, which contains the patterns for all three of the gnomes I’ve made so far), so he seemed like a good choice! I was also quite excited to try knitting his textured body, which is unlike anything I’d ever knitted before.

The Yarn

For this knitalong, I’m aiming to use up leftover yarn scraps from my mum’s extensive stash (and my own, not quite so extensive stash). While this does mean that I typically won’t be able to identify the specific yarns I’m using, I actually do know what the pink tweed yarn I’ve used here is! It’s Slubby Sock by Ainsworth & Prin, in the shade Mallow. Unfortunately, according to Ravelry, this yarn has been discontinued, which is a shame, because I really liked working with it.

A tweed-y yarn possibly wasn’t the best choice for Gnarley, just because it does obscure the wavy pattern she’s got going on on her body a little bit… You can still see it, but you just have to look a little closer than you would have to with a more basic yarn. I half suspected this going in, but I just really loved the colour and fancied making a pink gnome this month, so I rolled with it anyway.

I wasn’t sure how much yarn Gnarley would use up, because her whole body and hat are made using the same yarn, so I made sure to pick a yarn scrap that I had a good amount of, just in case. I wish I’d weighed it beforehand though, because I don’t think it used as much as I expected! Note to self: start weighing all gnome yarn before gnome-ing.

For Gnarley‘s beard, I really wanted to branch out from the cream colour I used for the past two gnomes, so I decided to use a grey shade, instead. However… I did run into a number of problems with this: Gnarley‘s quite a simple gnome, for one, and the grey shades did leave her looking a little… flat? Also, because the Mallow yarn is quite a deep shade, if I went too dark with the grey Gnarley started looking very ominous and gloomy, which wasn’t quite the vibe I was looking for… Finally, because my other two gnomes have such bright, cream beards, I was a bit worried about Gnarley looking a bit… mucky next to them.

In the end, after many, many, trials of different colours (and even different beard/nose combinations!), I settled on pale, warm-toned grey shade for both the beard and the nose. By herself, Gnarley looks great, but she does look a little drab compared to the other two gnomes in my collection. I’m hoping that, as the year goes on and I make more gnomes with darker/greyer beards, Gnarley will fit right into place!

Thoughts on the Pattern

My love for Sarah Schira’s patterns continues: they’re so clear, concise (without being too brief) and always work up perfectly. This was my first time following the pattern for Gnarley the Wavy Gnome though, so I thought I’d share some more specific thoughts on this pattern in particular.

Overall, I loved making Gnarley. I’d never worked left/right twists before (like, ever!), so this was an entirely new concept to me and, with the help of Schira’s instructions, I slipped right into an easy rhythm with it. Gnarley worked up SO quickly: in part because of the simplicity of the shape (that square hat was a dream after the struggle that was Gnolan‘s hat last month!), but also because there was something strangely addictive about knitting the textured body— there must just be the perfect amount of rows between the increases and the twists, because it really flew off my needles!

Much like with Gnolan, Gnarley has very few additional elements that need to be sewn onto the main body (in fact, Gnarley has even fewer: just a beard and a nose— no arms in sight!), which made knitting her even quicker and easier. Long story short, I had a lot of fun making my Gnarley!

Changes/Adaptations

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m still getting to grips with the whole gnome-making process, so, much like with the previous two gnomes, I opted to keep things simple and follow the pattern for Gnarley to the letter, instead of trying to make any of my own adaptations.

I do think, however, that if I made Gnarley again, I would make the brim on the hat ever so slightly longer, just to help it sit better over the beard/nose, and differentiate between the hat and the body a little more. Does this mean I’m finally building up the courage to start adding my own little touches to my gnomes?!

Things I Loved!

There are a lot of things I loved about making Gnarley:

• I loved the simplicity of the hat. Both of the previous two gnome hats I have made have been conical (or, at least, vaguely conical), which I love the effect of, but does include a little more shaping and faffery to create. Gnarley’s hat was SO straightforward, making it just felt like a little treat to myself.
• I loved working the twisted stitches. As I mentioned, this is a technique I’ve never used/encountered before, but it was so simple and easy to do, I found myself really enjoying the process!
• I loved the effect of the three-needle bind off on Gnarley‘s hat. I love a three-needle bind off and I think it is just the perfect finish for the top of the square hat!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

There were, however, a couple parts of the Gnarley-making process that I wasn’t quite so keen on…

• As I mentioned, I feel like the brim of Gnarley‘s hat is a little too short. This is very possibly due to my stitch-picking up inabilities (more on that in a sec), but I do think I’d consider increasing the length of the rib by 1-2 rows if I made Gnarley again!
• I do not enjoy picking up stitches from 3×3 rib. Why is it so much harder to stay in a straight line?! Not a fun time (but also, why did I find 3×3 rib so much harder to pick up from than the 1×1 rib on Gnorri‘s hat?! I don’t understand…).

Final Thoughts

I loved making Gnarley (especially if we ignore the aforementioned rib-picking-up-struggles)— I definitely think she was the most enjoyable of the three gnomes to make, but I do feel like the other two gnomes (Gnorri and Gnolan), just have a little more presence about them? Gnarley is quite one-dimensional in comparison and, while part of that is my fault for using a tweed yarn and giving her a grey beard/nose, I do think it will take a few more gnomes for her to feel at home in my collection. Truly, though, she was so much fun to make— I can see myself making many more Gnarleys, just for the fun of the process.

So that’s all the intel on Gnarley the First, my March entry for the Year of Gnomes 2025! Next month, I’m planning to follow along with the April mystery gnome, Professor Fungi, so I won’t be posting that one on here until the knitalong has completely finished in May (to preserve the fun of the mystery gnome!). Soooo, there’ll be two instalments of my Year of Gnomes 2025 series in May, and none in April (sad face, but not too sad face because I’m still hoping to get a bit of gnome-ing into the blog next month anyway…!).

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnarley the Wavy Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnarley the First here. 

Gemma

xxx

Let me introduce you to… Gnolan the First!

Gnolan the First has long dreamed of being the next Santa Claus, delivering toys to children and soaring over the seas in his sleigh. However, the Council of Legendary Figures has repeatedly informed Gnolan that he is not nearly portly enough for the job, so Gnolan has been on a strict, self-imposed diet of sugar cookies and mince pies, in a desperate attempt to plump out his tum…

Table of Contents

• Choosing February’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing February’s Gnome

I mentioned in my last Year of Gnomes post that I had initially planned to make Gnolan the Swirly Gnome first, since he was my favourite gnome from the Gnome Bible (i.e. The Gnomes of Grimblewood, Schira’s book). However, in the end, I opted to go for a slightly more straightforward gnome for January (Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome, to be exact), just to ease myself into the gnome-making process a little.

This month, I decided I was ready for the slightly more challenging Gnolan. With his twirly, swirly hat and beard, I have been enamoured with Gnolan since I first saw him, so he felt like a fitting gnome for February (after all, it is the month of love!).

The Yarn

For this knitalong, I’m aiming to use up leftover yarn scraps from my mum’s extensive stash (and my own, not quite so extensive stash). While this does mean that I typically won’t be able to identify the specific yarns I’m using, I actually can identify two of the yarns I’ve used for Gnolan the First! They are:

• Drops Baby Merino, in the shade Peanut (55).
• Drops Fabel, in the shade Ruby Red (113).

I also used the same, plain, cream-y/white shade for Gnolan’s nose, beard & hands that I used for Gnorri the First (though, unfortunately, I’m not quite sure on the provenance of that yarn).

I was absolutely set on making Gnolan the First in a similar, red-and-gold colour scheme to the sample Gnolan in the book (for maximum Santa Claus vibes). I realise that means I’ve made both of my gnomes in very similar colour ways to the ones suggested inbythe book, so I’m hoping to expand my shade horizons over the next few months and try out some new, gnome-y colour combos!

Thoughts on the Pattern

I waxed lyrical in my last Year of Gnomes post about how much I love Sarah Schira’s patterns— they’re just so clear and easy to follow! Anyhow, I won’t bore you with that spiel again (just know that all of my previous thoughts and statements still stand). This time, I’ll focus a little more on the Gnolan pattern specifically…

I have to say, I am glad that I made a slightly simpler gnome before making this one— while Gnolan is by no means tricky to make, he does have a few extra techniques and elements that make him slightly more challenging than Gnorri. The shaping of his hat/beard, as well as the i-cord elements, both paired with the striped colourwork details just make Gnolan a little more complex than Gnorri, and, while all of the techniques are super clearly explained, I definitely noticed that added layer of complexity while making him.

Luckily, Gnolan has very few additional elements that need to be attached to his gnome-self after knitting (for reference, Gnorri had 8 separate elements (1 nose, 1 beard, 2 arms, 2 pockets and 2 feet), while Gnolan has only 4 (1 nose, 1 beard and 2 arms), so the increased complexity of his body is balanced out (a little) by his minimal sewing-up requirements. You win some and you lose some, I guess.

Changes/Adaptations

I’m still getting to grips with the whole gnome-making process, so, much like with Gnorri the First, I opted to keep things simple and follow the pattern for Gnolan to the letter. I’m looking forward to switching things up a little and making my own, gnome adaptations in the future, but, for now, I think I need to focus on just getting used to the gnome-y techniques!

Things I Loved!

• This is weird, but I love the shape of Gnolan‘s body? He’s a tall gnome, and the subtle striped pattern, paired with the rich red and gold colour scheme just make him look so regal. Such an elegant gnome.
• The lack of feet. This was a surprise to me, because I was actually quite disappointed not to be making more lil’ feet this time around (and practising the three needle bind-off that I’m suddenly obsessed with). However, without feet, Gnolan looks like he’s kind of gliding around, which makes him feel extra wizard-y and robe-y, so I kind of love it.

• Gnolan‘s arms. I think I did a neater job of the arms this time around, and, because Gnolan is so tall, they’re much longer arms than the ones I made for Gnorri, so I think they look very smooth and elegant.

• The shape of Gnolan‘s hat. I didn’t love the process of this (so. much. slipping. of. stitches.) but the curve is giving me definite Grinch-y, Christmas tree vibes, so I kind of love it. Also, how clever is the pattern to create that shape? I’m obsessed.

• The fact that Gnolan‘s base is worked in the contrast colour. I was a bit surprised when I saw this, but I just think it adds a lil’ something something (even though you can’t even see it when he’s upright…).

• The way you can tuck Gnolan’s hand into the little loop of his beard so he can carry it around. Like… how did Schira think of that and why is it the best thing in the whole wide world?!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• The. Striped. I-cord. That last bit of the hat was ridiculously infuriating and I’m not entirely happy even now with how it’s sitting (even after blocking!)…
• The aforementioned slip-stitch process to shape the hat. It wasn’t the worst, but it also wasn’t crazy fun, so I’m putting it here.

• Gnolan‘s beard. Don’t get me wrong— I LOVE the whole hat-swirling-one-way, beard-swirling-the-other-way vibe Gnolan‘s got going on (it scratches an itch in my BRAIN), but I feel I could have knitted the beard a little more… neatly? I love the method used in the pattern to give the beard a clean edge, but I think maybe I didn’t execute it very well, because mine looks a lot messier than the sample Gnolans from the book? Maybe that’s something to work on with Gnolan the Second?

• The jog. I know, I know, jog is kind of inevitable when you’re knitting colourwork in the round, but it still kind of… upsets me?

Final Thoughts

I admit, while I was making Gnolan, I started to have some doubts… I think I was just so excited about the prospect of making him that, when he was a little more challenging than my previous gnome, I panicked and worried that he wouldn’t quite live up to my expectations. However, the second that I finished sewing on his final details, I set him on the mantelpiece next to Gnorri the First and realised… he’s pretty darn cool.

I do think I could improve the beard, but I’m optimistic that with a little more gnome-making practise, that is a perfectly attainable goal for the future. Overall, I’m really happy with Gnolan the First. He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty close for a first attempt! Also, I love how festive he looks— I think he’s going to be the perfect, Christmastime decoration (and Christmastime decorations are my favourite decorations, so it all works out).

Make sure to check back in next month for my March Gnome! I can’t WAIT to make another one.

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnolan the Swirly Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnolan the First here. 

Gemma

xxx

And, after making my first ever gnome, I can tell you: boy, was I right!

Let me introduce you, then, to my January gnome: Gnorri the First.

Gnorri the First has perpetually chilly hands, so his pockets come in, well, handy. He can be a little grumpy and prefers gnot to speak too much (he’s more of a grunter), but you’ll see his wild side if you ever take him line dancing— he loves a good ol’ hoedown throwdown!

Table of Contents

• Choosing January’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing January’s Gnome

For my January gnome, I wanted to keep things relatively simple. I have the The Gnomes of Grimblewood book (or the Gnome Bible, as I like to think of it), which is written by Sarah Schira (the mastermind behind Imagined Landscapes) and features 8 different gnome patterns (though the elements of the gnomes can be mixed and matched to your heart’s content!), so I decided to pick a gnome from the book to make this month.

At first, I planned to make Gnolan the Swirly Gnome, because I very much enjoy his Santa Claus/wizard-esque vibe, but, ultimately, I decided to start with something a little more straightforward, just to ease myself into the gnome-making process. Enter: Gnorri the Pocket-Beard Gnome. I think the beard pockets are SO cute and Gnorri‘s basic, gnome body seemed pretty simple, so he felt like the perfect starting point.

The Yarn

After many years of knitting, my mum has acquired a multitude of leftover yarn, particularly in the fingering weight category. I’m viewing this Year of Gnomes as a stash-busting project for those yarn scraps, so I won’t be buying any new yarns for this knitalong (she says, hopefully). Unfortunately, that does mean I have no idea what brands/shades any of the yarns are, but I guess that’s just part of the fun?

So, I went yarn-diving, hoping to find the perfect combination of yarns for Gnorri the First. After much deliberation, I settled on a slightly moody, autumnal colour palette: a auburn-y, coppery brown for the hat/pockets, a variegated charcoal grey for the body and a plain ol’, natural, cream-y white shade for the beard, nose and hands.

I used the recommended needle sizes for my fingering weight yarn (2.25mm and 2.50mm). I opted to make this gnome using the magic loop method, so I used circular needles (as opposed to DPNs) for most of the pieces. I did, however, use DPNs for the I-cord arms (and one extra DPN needle for the 3-needle bind-off, though a regular, straight needle would have worked too).

Thoughts on the Pattern

I… LOVED working from this pattern. I’m someone who likes to be walked through every step of a project super clearly, which is fine, but a lot of knitting patterns tend to assume a lot of knowledge/aren’t necessarily catered to the less confident, so I always find myself getting frustrated (and making completely incorrect assumptions, which seem very logical to me, but are apparently completely nonsensical). This pattern, on the other hand, is SO clearly explained, SO nicely written and SO detailed (especially when it comes to the sewing up instructions, which I particularly appreciated), without being overly wordy. Exact stitch placements are given! Every step is noted, even briefly! And the best part? It’s all done in a way that is brief and chilled, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming, but is still super clear and easy to follow. It’s a HUGE thumbs up from me!

I’ve mentioned on here before that I think the sign of a good knitted/crocheted toy pattern is that the finished product looks good. I always get a little panicky just before sewing up any yarn-y toy, because there’s always a chance it could end up looking a bit… cursed? However, the instructions for sewing up this gnome were so clear, it really took the stress out of the whole process. Plus, even when you don’t follow those instructions perfectly (I, for example, believe I attached the feet a little too far out from the centre of the beard, somehow), the gnome still looks SUPER CUTE. I’m so proud of my first gnome, which I think is a huge testament to the pattern.

Changes/Adaptations

Aside from the aforementioned, unintentionally far-apart feet, I didn’t make any changes to this pattern as I worked it up. This was partly because this was my first ever gnome, so I had no idea what it was going to look like, how it was going to go or what I would even like to adapt, but it was also partly because I just really wanted to follow the pattern exactly. I spend a lot of time thinking of new ideas, trying to put fun twists on things and be creative, but sometimes it’s really nice to let someone else be creative for you, while you just enjoy the process of making the item.

Gnorri the First, then, is exactly as Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome should be!

Things I Loved!

• The pockets! I’m obsessed with the pockets!
• The 3-needle bind off on the feet— I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually done a 3-needle bind off before (I had to google how to do it…), but I love the effect it gives and it was so simple to do!
• How absolutely adorable this gnome is and how perfect he looks even though I know he isn’t actually perfect, which almost makes him more perfect.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• Sewing the gnose onto the body (it wasn’t even that tricky, but it was the hardest bit of the whole process, so it felt very irritating at the time).
• Stuffing the gnome (WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG?! I think I got into the swing of it with the fluffy stuffing by the end, particularly after getting through the tricky, skinny bit at the top of the hat. However, putting in the little weighted stuffing pellets was a bit fiddly and vaguely infuriating, so that made me miffed all over again…)
• I’d like to do a better job of hiding the threads inside the I-cord arms: I feel there’s a few places where the hand colour pokes through in the sleeve, which isn’t quite the vibe.

(Sorry, Gnorri).

Final Thoughts

In case you hadn’t quite figured it out yet, I’m obsessed with Gnorri the First, I’m obsessed with the Gnome-Making World and I’m obsessed with Imagined Landscapes (aka Sarah Schira) and all of her iconic, gnome puns. Truly, I think I would knit any of her patterns, as long as there is a silent ‘g’ in the title.

I think Gnorri the First was a great, first gnome for me to make. I also like how he’s ever so slightly dreary, but also has a bit of fun to him— I think it pretty accurately reflects the general vibe of January, so he was a the perfect pick for my January gnome!

Here’s to more gnoming over the next 11 months!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnorri the First here. 

Gemma

xxx